The forthcoming Ondo State governorship polls which has been fixed for Saturday October 10, 2020, may prove to be another opportunity for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to test its efforts at conducting free, fair and credible elections in Nigeria, even as concern hangs over the fortunes of the exercise in the state and across the entire country.
The concern derives from fears that the exercise may be marked by tension and possible outbreak of violence in several locations due to the deep seated acrimony among the candidates and their respective party supporters.
Ordinarily, it is considered to be a straight, three-way contest between the incumbent Rotimi Akeredolu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Eyitayo Jegede of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Agboola Ajayi of Zenith Labour Party (ZLP).
The case of Ajayi is unique as he is entering the race on a different party from that with which he had contested and won in 2016, along with Akeredolu, as deputy governor and governor respectively.
He recently resigned from APC over discontent with Akeredolu only to contest against his former party and governor on a new platform of ZLP.
Meanwhile, in anticipation of possible outbreak of hostilities, the electoral umpire, INEC, is not taking chances and has launched several contingency measures.
In this regard it has marked 270 riverine polling units out of 3009 in the state as possible flash points while requesting the military to flush out militants from 62 creeks.
Also toward averting possible election-related breakdown of law and order, INEC has made the political gladiators, comprising Akeredolu, Jegede and Ajayi, along with other leading stakeholders to sign a peace agreement aimed at holding them responsible for any untoward action by their supporters.
Just as well the Nigeria Police Force is deploying as many as 30,000 police officers to provide security before, during and after the polls exercise.
According to the Commissioner of Police Ondo State Command, Bolaji Salami, the police have made adequate arrangements to provide every polling unit with police cover during the exercise and warned agitators for ‘Oduduwa republic’ and other troublemakers not to dare the force.
Also to boost the security measures, the Nigerian Navy and the Marine Police will escort electoral materials and personnel to riverine locations.
Seen in context, the elaborate preparations for the Ondo State governorship polls, which easily qualify as a build-up for war, is hardly conducive to any form of progress in election management in Nigeria.
As is undisputable, election exercises, which should provide the opportunity for citizens to vote freely for candidates of their choice, still remain theatres of war in the country.
One of the implications of such a dispensation is the tacit diversion of the country’s security paraphernalia from their legitimate theatres of deployment to duties that should have been handled by civil authorities.
And in a situation that the country is presently, with respect to the ongoing engagement with the raging insurgency in several parts of the country, diversion of military capabilities to non-combat assignments is hardly a positive for the country.
Nigerians are, therefore, looking up to the INEC to change the narrative on the country’s polls exercises with the Ondo State elections.
In this respect lies the fortunes of the new Electoral Reform Bill which should have been enacted into law by now, to provide the framework for changing the country’s electoral culture.
The bill, which offers to transform election management in the country, has for years been awaiting the assent of President Muhammadu Buhari to become law, has enjoyed rave attention by even the current Ninth National Assembly which has pledged to make it see the light of day.
Meanwhile, until the Electoral Bill becomes law, the onus lies with the people of Ondo State to work with the INEC to ensure that as much as possible, the polls run orderly and peacefully, while the best candidate wins the race.
